All Was Well
by conjure-at-your-own-risk
Summary: Nineteen years has passed, and the first of September was a reminder of so.


**EDIT 10-11-11:**

**Edited and UK-fied. Sorry, there won't be more by thanks for liking it. Sorry to that one person who (almost) cried while reading it.**

**And for the love of Merlin,if you're going to favourite it, then leave a review.**

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>

**How can people hate the epilogue?**

**For over six years the Trio fought. There was death, revenge, betrayal...So many loveable characters were lost and more enemies came. So why can't people accept that? These characters that we stood by for over ten years deserve some normality. Let them have the lives that they need. Harry married Ginny, Ron married Hermione, Luna married Rolf, Neville married Hannah. It's their lives that they created.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: Last time I checked, I am an American brunette. Nice try, but I know that I'm not JK Rowling.

**Title**: All Was Well

**Word****Count**: 3K

**Summary**: Nineteen years has passed, and the first of September was a reminder of so.

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><p>Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first of September was crisp as an apple, and as the little family bobbed across the rumbling road toward the great sooty station, the fumes of car exhausts and the breath of pedestrians sparkled like cobwebs in the cold air. Two large cages tattled on top of the laden trolleys the parents were pushing; the owls inside them hooted indignantly, and the redheaded girl trailed fearfully behind her brothers, clutching her father's arm.<p>

"It won't be long, and you'll be going too," Harry told her.

"Two years," sniffed Lily. "I want to go now!"

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><p>•<p>

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><p>The sound of a bowl breaking was what woke Harry up. The sharp echo bounced up to their room and was immediately followed by dismayed cries. He winced when he then heard Al spilling a carton of milk.<p>

"Wuzzoin?" Ginny asked. She rolled over to face Harry, spitting strands of her hair out of her mouth.

Harry moved a hand to cover his yawning mouth. "It's September."

A second later the realisation sunk in.

Harry summoned a fresh pair of jeans and slipped them on. Ginny jumped out of bed and hurriedly got her clothing on. The jumper that Molly made last Christmas threatened to rip as she accidentally put both arms through the same hole. "What time is it?"

Harry put his glasses on and squinted at the clock. "We got two hours."

"Dammit!"

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><p>•<p>

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><p>The commuters stared curiously at the owls as the family wove its way toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten, Albus's voice drifted back to Harry over the surrounding clamour; his sons had resumed the argument they had started in the car.<p>

"I won't! I won't be a Slytherin!"

"James, give it a rest!" said Ginny.

"I only said he might be," said James, grinning at his younger brother. "There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth -"

But James caught his mother's eye and fell silent.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Sod off, James," Al scowled. He turned his back on his older brother and started to pour some milk in his cereal bowl. Nerves quickly gathered as he heard James made a ticking sound.<p>

_"Tic...tock...tic..."_

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><p>•<p>

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><p>The five Potters approached the barrier. With a slightly cocky look over his shoulder at his younger brother, James took the trolley from his mother and broke into a run. A moment later, he had vanished.<p>

"You'll write to me, won't you?" Albus asked his parents immediately, capitalising on the momentary absence of his brother.

"Every day, if you want us to," said Ginny.

"Not every day," said Albus quickly,

"James says most people only get letters from home about once a month."

"We wrote to James three times a week last year," said Ginny.

"And you don't want to believe everything he tells you about Hogwarts," Harry put in. "He likes a laugh, your brother."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>James creeped silently in the dead of the night. His hawthorn wand was alight, casting shadows to appear around him.<p>

With slipper-covered feet he tiptoed into Al's room. The little bugger was snoring loud enough to wake the dead. How he never woke up was a mystery to James. The oldest Potter surveyed around the room and let a smile curved his mouth when he saw the opened trunk.

Clothes were hastily stuffed together like a giant snowball of colours and fabrics. It swelled with an impressive girth and spilled across the floor. James moved closer and put an envelope in one of the shoes.

Al snorted as he kept dreaming. James quietly walked out of the room feeling pleased with what he just did. After all, how would Al survive? That letter held all of the best-kept secrets about the school.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Side by side, they pushed the second trolley forward, gathering speed. As they reached the barrier, Albus winced, but no collision came. Instead, the family emerged onto platform nine and three-quarters, which was obscured by thick white steam that was pouring from the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Indistinct figures were swarming through the mist, into which James had already disappeared.<p>

"Where are they?" asked Albus anxiously, peering at the hazy forms they passed as they made their way down the platform.

"We'll find them," said Ginny reassuringly.

But the vapour was dense, and it was difficult to make out anybody's faces. Detached from their owners, voices sounded unnaturally loud, Harry thought he head Percy discoursing loudly on broomstick regulations, and was quite glad of the excuse not to stop and say hello . . . .

"I think that's them, Al," said Ginny suddenly.

A group of four people emerged from the mist, standing alongside the very last carriage. Their faces only came into focus when Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Albus had drawn right up to them.

"Hi," said Albus, sounding immensely relieved.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Ron," Hermione consoled, "you don't have to worry about anything."<p>

Ron rubbed his eyes with the edges of his apron. The flour streaked his face and even got into his eyes. There was a large platter of chocolate biscuit that he made to give as snacks for tomorrow's train ride.

"They're just growing up so fast."

Hermione blinked in a series of rapid movements. Bugger, she hated getting all teary-eyed. "Love," she croaked, "I'm even crying."

Ron buried himself in his hands, groaning. "I swore that Rosie just started to walk the other day. And now she's heading off to Hogwarts."

"She's going to be embarrassed if we start to blubber at the station," Hermione said, grinning slightly. She reached to grab a biscuit when Ron's larger hand snapped it away.

"Those are for Rosie, James, Al, Victoire…"

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Rose, who was already wearing her brand-new Hogwarts robes, beamed at him.<p>

"Parked all right, then?" Ron asked Harry. "I did. Hermione didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner."

"No, I didn't," said Hermione, "I had complete faith in you."

"As a matter of fact, I did Confund him," Ron whispered to Harry, as together they lifted Albus's trunk and owl onto the train."I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Ron?"<p>

"Yes?"

"That was our exit that we just missed."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Back on the platform, they found Lily and Hugo, Rose's younger brother, having an animated discussion about which House they would be sorted into when they finally went to Hogwarts.<p>

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," said Ron, "but no pressure."

"Ron!"

Lily and Hugo laughed, but Albus and Rose looked solemn.

"He doesn't mean it," said Hermione and Ginny, but Ron was no longer paying attention.

Catching Harry's eye, he nodded covertly to a point some fifty yards away. The steam had thinned for a moment, and three people stood in sharp relief against the shifting mist.

"Look who it is."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Draco patted his head with the potion. The thick liquid seeped into his hair, making it look thicker. He looked at his reflection and let out a breath of relief.<p>

"You're such a peacock," his wife tutted. She wrapped one arm across his shoulder and stood on the tips of her toes. The top of her head just managed to brush the edge of his ear.

"Better a peacock than bald," Draco kissed the side of her face.

"Honey, who else is going to notice that you're balding?"

"...You just did."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasised the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry.<p>

Draco caught sight of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny staring at him, nodded curtly, and turned away again.

"So that's little Scorpius," said Ron under his breath. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, half stern, half amused. "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Listen here, Scorpius." Draco said, he sparred the Weasley-Potter family one last look. "Your grandfather would die from a heart attack if you marry one of them."<p>

"Why?"

"Because we don't like each other."

"Why?"

"Because your daddy was an idiot."

Draco scowled as his son laughed. "Love you, Astroie. Love you, too."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."<p>

"Oh, Ron" she murmured, shaking her head.

"Hey!"

James had reappeared; he had divested himself of his trunk, owl, and trolley, and was evidently bursting with news.

"Teddy's back there," he said breathlessly, pointing back over his shoulder into the billowing clouds of steam.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Teddy?"<p>

Teddy felt his checks turning red as Victoire looked up at him. "Yeah?"

His mind barely processed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth.

She was kissing him.

_She was kissing him!_

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!"<p>

He gazed up at the adults, evidently disappointed by the lack of reaction.

"Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing —"

"You interrupted them?" said Ginny. "You are so like Ron—"

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Knew it!" James exclaimed to the couple. "I knew it, I knew it! I—"<p>

Teddy looked at Victoire. She shrugged in a silent answer. He turned to James who was still gloating. "Listen, mate, I was just _seeing__her__off._Got it?

"—but Mum then said...Wait a tic?" James looked agitated. "Just seeing her off? Come on, you two were like a pair of eels."

"Jamie," Victiore said sweetly. "Kindly bugger off. I want to say good-bye to my boyfriend."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"—and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!" James added as though worried he had not made himself clear.<p>

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married!" whispered Lily ecstatically. "Teddy would really be part of the family then!"

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," said Harry "Why don't we just invite him to live with is and have done with it?"

"Yeah!" said James enthusiastically. "I don't mind sharing with Al—Teddy could have my room!"

"No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."

He checked the battered old watch that had once been Fabian Prewett's. "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

"Don't forget to give Neville our love!" Ginny told James as she hugged him.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Neville flipped the old DA coin in his hand. The gold shone duly in the torchlight as it created a soft streak of light bouncing off the metal. He caught it and ran his thumb over the stamped image.<p>

Tonight a new generation will come. He had the right to be nervous, he supposed. New students, old students, James Potter and Fred Weasley causing havoc. Simple stuff, really.

Neville continued his walk through the corridor, reminiscing on old memories. Behind that statue was where Hannah and he had their first kiss. Next to that tapestry was where he last saw Trevor. And right next to that torch on the left was where he handed out his first detention.

The herbologist put the coin in his robe pocket, the time on his watch told him that he should be getting ready.

Perhaps he should get that new packet of detention slips ready.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Mum! I can't give a professor love!"<p>

"But you know Neville-"

James rolled his eyes.

"Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love …"

Shaking his head at his mother's foolishness, he vented his feelings by aiming a kick at Albus.

"See you later, Al. Watch out for the Thestrals."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Luna, I love you and all," Rolf said over the howling wind. He clutched tighter on the invisible beast. "But taking Threstrals to the station might be too much."<p>

The contents of his stomach pushed upwards as the flying creature swooped downwards. Lorcan and Lysander cheered in delight. Luna looked serene as always, but Rolf, poor Rolf felt terrified.

Then he started to scream like a little girl. Or how Luna would put it, he screamed like a Femoran. Whatever that meant, Rolf had the feeling it was one of the more cuddly and loving creatures.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"<p>

But James merely laughed, permitted his mother to kiss him, gave his father a fleeting hug,then leapt onto the rapidly filling train. They saw him wave, then sprint away up the corridor to find his friends.

"Thestrals are nothing to worry about," Harry told Albus. "They're gentle things, there's nothing scary about them. Anyway, you won't be going up to school in the carriages, you'll be going in the boats."

Ginny kissed Albus goodbye.

"See you at Christmas."

"Bye, Al," said Harry as his son hugged him. "Don't forget Hagrid's invited you to tea next Friday. Don't mess with Peeves. Don't duel anyone till you're learned how. And don't let James wind you up."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>Harry looked over his shoulder to see of Ginny was nearby. Seeing that the coast was clear, he slipped the book in Al's trunk. The small object was easily concealed in the mess of clothing and rubbish. Harry grinned as he closed it. Ginny would groan if she knew what book he got his son.<p>

_How __to __Survive __at __Hogwarts_ _and __How __Not __to __Get __Eaten __Alive __by __Something __Nasty_, by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"What if I'm in Slytherin?"<p>

The whisper was for his father alone, and Harry knew that only the moment of departure could have forced Albus to reveal how great and sincere that fear was.

Harry crouched down so that Albus's face was slightly above his own. Alone of Harry's three children, Albus had inherited Lily's eyes.

"Albus Severus," Harry said quietly, so that nobody but Ginny could hear, and she was tactful enough to pretend to be waving to Rose, who was now on the train, "you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."

"But just say—"

"—then Slytherin House will have gained an excellent student, won't it?

"It doesn't matter to us, Al. But if it matters to you, you'll be able to choose Gryffindor over Slytherin. The Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

"Really?"

"It did for me," said Harry.

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><p>•<p>

* * *

><p>"It doesn't matter," Harry said to Ginny in the car. He looked in the mirror to see Al's worried expression. He had been told numerous times that what Al was feeling was normal. Still, Harry felt that the had to be someway to comfort his son.<p>

Ginny patted his knee. "Since when did it ever?" she twisted her head to look at her sons arguing. "James Sirius Potter! I told you to stop."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>He had never told any of his children that before, and he saw the wonder in Albus's face when he said it. But now the door were slamming all along the scarlet train, and the blurred outlines of parents swarming forward for final kisses, last-minute reminders, Albus jumped into the carriage and Ginny closed the door behind him. Students were hanging from the windows nearest them. A great number of faces, both on the train and off, seemed to be turned toward Harry.<p>

"Why are they all staring?" demanded Albus as he and Rose craned around to look at the other students.

"Don't let it worry you," said Ron. "It's me, I'm extremely famous."

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><p>•<p>

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><p>"Father. Why are they all looking at you?"<p>

Draco raised his head higher, the back of his neck was starting to hurt from holding this position. "I have no idea," he lied evenly. He hoped that the day when Scorpius found out, he would be forgiven.

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><p>•<p>

* * *

><p>Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Lily laughed.<p>

The train began to more, and Harry walked alongside it, watching his son's thin face, already ablaze with excitement. Harry kept smiling and waving, even though it was like a little bereavement, watching his son glide away from him.

The last trace of steam evaporated in the autumn air. The train rounded a corner. Harry's hand was still raised in farewell.

"He'll be alright," murmured Ginny.

As Harry looked at her, he lowered his hand absentmindedly and touched the lightning scar on his forehead.

"I know he will."

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><p>•<p>

* * *

><p>"Blimey! Look!"<p>

Al raised his head to see the glorious structure that was known as Hogwarts. Words failed to describe the weathered beauty if the aged stones, sharply pointed towers, and how it was glowing with candlelights and memories.

The boat he and Rose were in bobbled in the dark water, the boy holding the lantern almost dropped it as he caught a look of the castle. The three were so enamored that they never noticed the thick tentacle of squid splash water all over them.

The first years may not had known, but no matter what, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome them home.

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><p>•<p>

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><p>The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well.<p> 


End file.
